The Big 12 men’s basketball teams started the 12th round of league action on Saturday, with seven games played across the country.
Saturday’s game results included:
No. 8 Iowa State 82, TCU 52
Baylor 91, UCF 76
Kansas State 81, No. 16 Kansas 73
No. 5 Houston 69, Colorado 59
West Virginia 72, Utah 61
Cincinnati 84, BYU 66
No. 20 Arizona 82, No. 13 Texas Tech 73
The Big 12’s 12th round of league action concludes on Sunday with Arizona State at Oklahoma State.
Here are five takeaways from the latest day of men’s basketball action.
Best Game
Well, if you made it through the entire day, you got to Texas Tech at Arizona. A Top 25 battle that was consigned to the 9:30 p.m. central slot on ESPN because, you know, that’s how the Worldwide Leader rolls when it comes to Big 12 content.
One thing really stood out to me in this game — Arizona is truly a Big 12 team now.
Arizona played 40 minutes of tough, physical offense and defense. That’s not a huge news flash if you watched the Iowa State win nearly two weeks ago. But this is a Wildcats team that can consistently do that for the entire game. Back in early January, I wasn’t sure they had that in the toolbox. Now, they do.
The first meeting with the Red Raiders in Lubbock exposed that lack of consistent toughness. Arizona met the moment this time. The Wildcats shot far better, better than 50%, nearly 20% better than the game in Lubbock. Forwards Tobe Awaka and Henri Veesaar were huge with Trey Townsend out due to a concussion. The pair combined for 29 points and 18 rebounds.
Between their work inside and Arizona’s ability to drive into the paint with guards Caleb Love and Carter Bryant, the Wildcats lead the Big 12 in points in the paint with nearly 40 points per game. That, combined with Arizona’s ability to shoot the 3-pointer, makes the Wildcats a hard beat now. Arizona has won six straight since that loss in Lubbock.
Texas Tech is a great team. Don’t count them out when it comes to the Big 12 or the NCAA Tournament. JT Toppin had another huge game — 21 points and 12 rebounds. But Arizona’s defense was frustrating, to the point where the Red Raiders shot under 40%. That proved to be the difference. The Red Raiders were relentless right until the end of the game.
Oh, and the Red Raiders lost their first true road game of the season.
I propose a third meeting in Kansas City next month. Both will get no worse than a single bye, if not one of the four double byes into the quarterfinals. They’ll see each other again.
Best Performances
Iowa State guard Curtis Jones returned to the bench and dropped 24 points, including five 3-pointers, on TCU.
Baylor forward Norchad Omier had 18 points and 12 rebounds as the Bears cruised past UCF.
Kansas State guard Dug McDaniel had a double-double, with 15 points and 11 assists. He even pitched in six rebounds in the win over Kansas.
Houston forward J’Wan Roberts finished with 20 points, four rebounds and three assists to help the Cougars keep Colorado winless in Big 12 action.
West Virginia’s Amani Hansberry had 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists as the Mountaineers defeated Utah.
Jizzle James was terrific for Cincinnati, finishing with 24 points in the Bearcats’ win over BYU.
Texas Tech’s Elijah Hawkins had a double-double (10 points, 12 assists) in the loss, while Awaka had a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) for Arizona.
Most-Needed Win
I mean, Kansas State right? The Wildcats have now won five games and three of those wins have been over ranked teams. Now over .500, bracketologists can legitimately start thinking about where the Wildcats fit into the field. ESPN didn’t have the Wildcats on the bubble as of Friday. In fact, ESPN’s Joe Lunardi wasn’t even considering K-State. That could change on Tuesday.
Now, Arizona is coming. That’s also at Bramlage on Tuesday. If Kansas State wins THAT game? Well, that’s four ranked wins in six games and, at that point, if the Wildcats aren’t being considered then something is wrong.
Worst Loss
The BYU-Cincinnati game was a battle of bubble teams. Entering the game, BYU was one of the last four teams in the field according to ESPN. Cincinnati was not on the bubble, but the Bearcats were among the teams being considered.
I’m not sure how much the win changes Cincinnati’s fortunes, but that was a game the Cougars could ill-afford to lose, especially coming off a home loss to Arizona earlier in the week.
Arizona snapped BYU’s four-game winning streak. Cincinnati turned it into a losing streak. Next is a trip to Morgantown to face West Virginia and then back home to face red-hot Kansas State.
It’s starting to get a big dicey as the stretch run begins for the Cougars.
Health Issues
Saturday was a day for two Big 12 teams to get their injured players back.
In Ames, Iowa State got Milan Momcilovic back from a foot injury and blew out TCU. So, maybe it WAS as simple as getting him back? Everything looked … right for the Cyclones in this one. The floor spacing, the defensive intensity, Curtis Jones back in his sixth man role. Everything clicked.
Momcilovic started the game and finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers.
Baylor got back both freshman VJ Edgecome and veteran sixth man Langston Love, the latter of which had been out for more than a month. For the first time since December, the Bears were at full strength.
Edgecombe started and posted 17 points with five assists. Love logged 27 minutes and had 16 points and six rebounds. If the latter can stay healthy, the Bears are going be real trouble down the stretch.
But it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops. After the Houston game, coach Kelvin Sampson told ESPN that guard L.J. Cryer has a “serious” injury with his knuckle. The Houston Chronicle provided additional reporting after Sampson disclosed the injury.
Baylor coach Scott Drew said that Josh Ojianwuna would undergo an MRI for an injury he suffered against UCF. Drew said, “hopefully he’s not out for the season.”
It’s just unrelenting for Baylor when it comes to injuries.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
